Trident Literacy Association will soon have a permanent home in Summerville.

The organization has found a building and is negotiating to buy the property, Judianne Schmenk said during a breakfast meeting of volunteers and staff held Thursday.

This new site, to be located at 907 Miles Jamison Road in Summerville, will be the new permanent office for the Dorchester County branch of Trident Literacy, she said. The idea is to not only have a convenient, permanent, established location but to send a clear message to the community that Trident Literacy wants and intends to be a permanent part of the Dorchester County community.

“The exciting news is that we are close to securing all the funding we need to open,” she said. “We are within a few thousand dollars of reaching our goal.”

More specifically, the Trident Literacy Board of Directors wants the Dorchester office to have funds available to handle a year’s expenses, including salaries, utilities, rent, and office infrastructure/supplies; this comes to $45,430. Thus far, they have raised $35,450, Schmenk said.

In order to secure the remaining funds needed, the group is now working on fundraising events, with a major effort tentatively planned for a weekend in April, Schmenk said. Some ideas include partnering with various area businesses for a variety of events. If all goes well, the weekend could become an annual event, she said.

Ultimately, the organization is about building a stronger community.

“Some people can and do go through adult education, but there are still more than 4,000 people in Summerville alone that dropped out of high school and there may be as many as 15,000 in Dorchester County,” she said. “What happens is that we get these people the help they need, then they are able to go out and get better jobs and invest in the community themselves.”

Trident Literacy offers adults 17 years and older self-paced, individualized instruction in reading writing, mathematics, English as a Second Language, GED preparation, and basic computer use. Students pay $5 a month; seniors 65 and older can participate at no charge.

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